


Veterans Day

by LumaBoop



Series: 10 Chimes For Veterans 2015 [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Almost!, Gen, N7 Day, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reapers, Reapers man, Veterans Day, indoctrination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 10:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5202362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LumaBoop/pseuds/LumaBoop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James is feeling it.<br/>1st Chime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Veterans Day

It was always on the same day. Nothing had changed, except for the circumstances. Usually, James went above and beyond to either prank, call, or sent an omni message to every gent and gal he knew in the Alliance to wish them a grand Veterans’ Day.

Today, however, was the day after, and James awoke stiff and sore and simply not in the fucking mood. Almost one full year since Shepard’s Sacrifice and into rebuilding efforts of a civilization equal to one Milky Way, and James had forgotten all about Veterans Day. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his holographic clock to his side.

**11/12/2187**

“Ugh…”

He was tired. Beyond the bruises and the pulled muscles and the punctured nail he got a month ago that was gonna leave him fingernail-less in about three months, James was mentally off. A year without Shepard in the world, and it simply felt as if nothing was ever going to be right. No monument, no holiday, no commencement, and no new building in the man’s honor was going to bring him back. And the irritating part was, it took Shepard’s death for anyone to truly give a damn about what the man was fighting for. Even while he was trying his hardest to bring the galaxy together to fight the Reapers, in-fighting and politics somehow still managed to get in the way, prolonging what should had been an instant call to action against a force beyond the generational rivalries between the species.

In the end, they made it, built something that not even the Bug-Eyes could finish and use, and Shepard… well…

James rubbed his eyes and frowned. Maybe he could just take a day. He had, somehow, worked all Veterans’ Day. No one would miss him at the rebuild sector. He closed his eyes, resettled back into bed and let the sunlight wash over his face…

 _Sunlight_ … it was so damn dark during that final stretch. As if a hurricane was coming, but the rain never came, only dirt, ash, the smell of metal and something disgustingly organic in the air… The blaring call of the Reapers burned his ears more strongly than the most severe sunburn…

The ping of his omni tool snapped him out of a potentially bad trip and he sighed again, body sinking more into the bed before he sat up and grabbed his tool.

[Message From: Major K. Alenko]  
[Time of Message: 0900hrs]  
[Body: Happy Belated Veterans Day, Vega.]

“…” It hit him. It hit him in a way that left him both humbled and invigorated. Never had he thought of himself as a veteran. No way. That was something reserved for the big boys. The Commanders and the Sergeants and the Majors and the Admirals. The women and men who put in serious hours and blood and sweat and tears to the Alliance, or whatever intergalactic military branch that they belonged to– they were the veterans. Sure, he was an Lt, but as far as the military goes, no one ever really looked at Lts. with true inspiration in their eyes since they were usually young, stupid, and cocky without having seen any or little field experience.

But he had seen. He had seen and sometimes, even to this day, could not comprehend. Whenever he had been out their with Shepard, and they faced monstrosities that his mind could not decipher, he had put on bravado, and kept Shepard’s 3 o’clock without a scratch. He had shouted and hollered and let out war cries, but now, when the blood stopped pumping, and the reality of every battle was allowed to manifest and mold in the mind, James realized that he, in a way, was a veteran. He wasn’t a Shepard by any means, and he had only become an N7 six months ago, but he had seen and he had conquered. And he was ready to do so again if necessary.

He smiled a tired little smile at the message and with a shudder-filled exhale, responded simply.

[Body: Happy Veterans Day, Alenko. Meet you at the Fields. Sunflowers or Marigolds?]

[Message From: Major K. Alenko]  
[Time of Message: 0909hrs]  
[Body: Sunflowers. He loved sunflowers]


End file.
